Abigail Lucas
by The Hogwarts Society
Summary: Abigail Lucas thought this year was going to be simple. Go to Hogwarts, stuff her head with as much knowledge as she could, and get out. Hopefully, she'll be able to get through it without having to deal with too many people. But unfortunately, fate has other plans. by Katie W.
1. Chapter 1

This is one in a series of books all taking place at the same time but from different POV's.

Disclaimer: Obviously not JKR.

* * *

The bell dinged but I didn't look up from my book. I heard Sarah get up from the chair beside me and immediately missed her warmth. The air conditioning was turned on much too high for my liking.

"What can I do for you today?" Sarah asked in her work voice - an overly cheerful trill that never failed to annoy me.

"I'm looking for a book for my niece." A man, middle-aged, no big reader, hadn't been at the shop before. No kids of his own, probably a bachelor. I raised my eyes for a moment and saw that I was right. The balding, rather plump man looked distinctly not at ease in the bookstore. There was no wedding ring on his finger. Really, some people were just so obvious. Sarah caught me looking and beckoned me forward. With a groan, I shut my book and got to my feet.

"How old is she?" Sarah asked the man.

"Turning sixteen," the man said. "She likes... oh, curse it all, I can't remember the name. One of those new-fangled genres. Dist-something-or-another."

"Dystopia," I said, rolling my eyes. "It's not new, it's been around forever. In fact, it reached its peak in about the year 2015. You'll want _The Hunger Games_ by Suzanne Collins. Just make sure you give her the name of this store so she'll know where to find the rest of them. Most places won't have it."

The man blinked a few times, obviously overwhelmed. I scoffed (internally, of course - I'm not _that_ rude) and went back to my book.

"Good recommendation, but your people skills still could use work," Sarah said when the man left the shop, settling herself back into the seat next to mine. "He nearly didn't buy it when he saw how old it was."

I shrugged. "She'll have read anything modern," I said. "And he ended up buying the whole trilogy, didn't he? So no harm done."

She just sighed. "One day," she said. "One day, you'll figure out how to talk to people. And when that day comes I am going to laugh so hard."

I smiled, a genuine smile, the sort of smile only Sarah could elicit. "Why bother, when I have you? Besides, they're all idiots anyway."

She beamed back at me and pulled me into a hug. Buried in her arms in that moment, I could almost imagine I was eight again, taking comfort in the only person I had left. I shook the memories away as she pulled back.

"C'mon," she said. "Let's get you home."

I groaned. "Can't I stay with you? The Warringtons are coming over."

"They're not that bad."

I raised a single eyebrow, something I had spent the entire school year perfecting. "Excuse me? Have you seen Conrad lately? He's insane!"

Sarah just laughed and bumped my shoulder with hers. "You're more than a match for him," she said. "Just lie low and try not to upset Dad, okay? You know how he gets whenever they come over. You can beat Conrad up at school."

Of course, I had to get home just as the Warringtons were arriving. "Abigail!" my father called, obviously relieved as Sarah's car pulled into the driveway. As a muggle, he finds the Warringtons just a tad overwhelming. Conrad's obvious disgust for anything he considers "beneath him" – aka everything on the planet, but especially muggles – doesn't help. He hurried down the steps and pulled me into a quick hug, muttering, "They just arrived. Conrad's going to be staying here for a week."

"What?" I stared at him. The plan was for the Warringtons to come over for dinner. No more, no less. One dinner, I could stand. But a week of Conrad, without his parents? All I could think was: _avada kedavra _me now. "Where?" Our house wasn't all grand like the Warrington's. We only had four small bedrooms: one for me, one for my dad, one for my Aunt Tessa, who lived with us, and one for Sarah.

"Sarah's room," Dad said. I groaned. Of course it made sense, it was the only room in the house, but it was right next to mine. When Sarah still lived at home, we had shared a bathroom. It wasn't a problem, but the thought of sharing a bathroom with any teenage boy – but especially Conrad – was unimaginable.

"Thanks for warning me," I said as I brushed past him.

Aunt Calypso – Conrad's loving mother – smiled at me and pulled me into a bone crushing hug. "How are you, Abigail?" she asked me in that posh voice of hers. It made me want to throw up.

Instead, I forced a smile and said, "Fine."

We didn't see the Warringtons very often, but every time we did it was full of awkward moments. My family (if you could call the dysfunctional motions we went through a family) simply had nothing in common with them. They were pureblood (well, except for the part where they were related to us) and we were muggle.

Dinner started off discomfiting and just got worse from there. Aunt Tessa never approved of the Warringtons ("Coming in here with their wands and magic and thinking it makes them so much better than us!") and Dad just wanted them to keep them happy ("I'm sure Conrad's a perfectly nice boy once you get to know him better."). Needless to say, that plus the Warrington's obvious distaste at our humble lodgings made for a very uncomfortable dinner. Conrad spent the entire time scowling.

All in all, though, dinner wasn't too bad. Embarrassing, yes, but it didn't end in a fistfight and Conrad stayed mainly silent so I was able to survive.

At one point during dinner, Uncle Clive turned to me. "Thank you for doing this," he whispered. "Conrad's been in a bit of trouble lately" – of course – "so we really wanted him to be somewhere safe. Do you think you could keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't sneak out at night? I'm worried he's seeing some friends that are having a bad influence."

I nearly laughed out loud. Conrad was the worst of his friends by a long shot. Not that they were great people either, but at least they weren't downright evil like he was. And me, keeping him in check? He'd kill me first. But slowly, a plan came into my mind. "I'd be glad to keep an eye on him," I said, grinning. He smiled the tight-lipped smile of a man who never smiles and thanked me. The rest of dinner passed quite enjoyably.

Then, of course, Conrad's parents left, Dad disappeared upstairs to his office, and Aunt Tessa began to clean up from dinner. That left me and Conrad alone.

"Your room is upstairs," I said. "To the right. Bathroom is across the hall. Don't bother me." I figured that was enough hostessing enough for one night and returned to my room.

The next day, I did my best to pretend that Conrad didn't exist. I was up hours before he was, and so it was pretty easy. I took the book I was reading (Lavender Brown's fascinating account of conditions at Hogwarts during the Second Wizarding War) and headed for my favorite reading spot, a place where Aunt Tessa's ruthless dusters couldn't reach, a place that only Sarah and I knew about. In an obscure corner of our attic, looking down at the London street below, there was a window, small and circular. It was the only place you could find natural light in the attic, and I loved it. There was a small window seat underneath it, in which was everything that remained of my mum. Her wedding dress, a few old photos, a yellowing letter or two, including the note Dad had found sitting on the kitchen table the morning after she left.

I settled down in the window seat and opened the book. _Dumbledore's Army_, the title of the chapter I was on read. Beneath it was an old wizarding photo of twenty-five teenagers grinning at the camera. I smiled back at them and began to read.

All too soon, I was interrupted. "There you are," Conrad said. I groaned. What did he want with me? Let me guess – part of his training regime for quidditch mandated a punching bag and he wanted me to volunteer. "Where's your owl?"

"Why?" No way was I letting him get ahold of Summer. He would probably strangle her, or something.

"I need to send a letter." It was probably a package full of poison.

I looked up at him, wondering if eye contact would help with my mental telepathy. _Get out. Get out. Get out._ Nope, wasn't working. Pity. "Use your own owl."

"I don't have one." Well, then, there you are. Your parents didn't want you to have an owl with you for a reason, dimwit. Honestly, did he do his best to drive them to an early grave? I didn't like Aunt Calypso or Uncle Clive very much, but in that moment, I had a bit of pity for them. It couldn't be easy, having an idiot like that for a son.

"Well, you can't use mine," I said, returning my eyes to my book. Maybe if I ignored him he would go away. "She's out." _Over time, Dumbledore's Army grew into more than just a DADA club. We became a rebel group, fighting for justice within Hogwarts._

"Then how the hell am I supposed to send my letter?" He should wash out his mouth with a bar of soap.

"Try the post office," I told him. Honestly, you would think that he had never had to function a day in the muggle world. Then again, he probably hadn't. "Three blocks to the right, on your left."

"You want me to use a muggle post office?" Pureblood jerk. "I'm not sending a letter to a _muggle_." And stupid on top of it.

This wasn't working. I couldn't read with him in the room. I closed my book, careful not to lose my place, and did what I did best: I left.

I found myself doing a lot of that over the next few days. Sarah's warning to make things easier for Dad was pretty much constantly on my mind. Most of the time, it wasn't even a problem. It's not like he was ever home. I thought it would be okay. I told myself that I lived under the same roof as Conrad nine months out of the year. But Hogwarts was very big, and my house was very small. Eventually, I just gave up. When he entered a room, I would exit it. Of course that didn't work for meals, but I managed pretty well for the rest of the day.

The only thing that gave me a little satisfaction was that my plan worked perfectly. With Conrad in the house, the Ministry couldn't blame me for doing magic. I would just put it all on him if they tried. So I brewed up a nifty little potion I'd found and coated a long piece of rope in it. It took me a couple of nights (during each of which I heard Conrad sneaking out) but by the end of his third night there I had a nice magic net. I set it up by the living room, right by the front door. He tried to leave and BAM. Caught in the net. The potion guaranteed that he wouldn't be trying to leave again. It promoted an irrational fear of being in whatever situation one is in when one comes in contact with the potion. It was really quite brilliant. After that, Conrad never left the house.

I, however, was completely free. Or, rather, as free as anyone could be when they had an overprotective aunt. I couldn't even go to Diagon Alley without her wanting to know where I was going, who I would be with, how long I would be gone, and why I was going. By the time she had finished interrogating me, I was running late.

I showed up at Weasley Wizarding Wheezes about ten minutes after one, when I was supposed to meet Maya. I didn't see her out front, .

It was chaotic in there, to say the least. Always busy, the pre-school rush had pushed them over the edge. There were staff-people in magenta robes everywhere. About a third of them were redheads. I cringed just to look at them. Their hair really just looked terrible with the robes.

One of the employees (thankfully not a redhead) ambushed me as I meandered about. His nametag read _James III_.

"Hello, there," he said, grinning at me. "What can I do for you today?"

"I'm just looking," I told him, and made to go.

"Ah, but for what?" he asked. "That's always the question. True love?" He pulled a hideous pink vial from his pocket. "Or something a little more sophisticated?"

I snorted. "I don't think this place knows the meaning of the word sophisticated."

"You'd be surprised," he said with a wink that was supposed to be charming. "Come here." He grabbed my arm and suddenly I found myself in a – heaven forbid – quiet corner of the shop. "Our back room," he said, grinning at my surprise. "Our secret stash, you might say."

I yanked my arm away and picked up one of the boxes on the shelves. "Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder," I read, rather surprised. "Isn't that stuff really old? It was used in the Second Wizarding War."

"History buff, are you?" he said, raising an eyebrow. I glared at him, but he just smiled. "Yes, it was used during the Second War. But it's the best stuff out there."

"It works better if you add methanol," I said. "Not too much, of course, and you have to alter it so it isn't dangerous, but it extends the amount of time it lasts."

His eyebrow nearly flew off his face, as he raised it even higher. "A history buff and good at potions," he said. "Is there anything you can't do?"

I raised an eyebrow of my own. "Don't you have better places to be than talking with some nerd?"

He just smiled. "Nerds are my favorite sorts of people. My aunt's one, you know. She even teaches at Hogwarts."

"Professor Weasley," I said. "The charms teacher." She was one of the better professors - she actually knew her stuff, unlike most of them.

"That's the one," he said cheerfully. "Tell her I say hi when you see her, will you? Fred too. And Neville."

"I'm not on a first term basis with any of them," I informed him. Professor Longbottom was okay, but he was always favoring Gryffindors. And Coach Weasley? As if I'd ever get within ten feet of a broomstick.

"Give them my name and maybe you will be. Here, take this," he said, dropping a crate of Instant Darkness Powder into my arms.

"I don't have any money," I protested, but I couldn't help thinking of exactly what I would do with so much of it.

"On the house," he said. I glared at him. No way was I accepting charity from this random stranger. He quickly elaborated. "See if you can't improve it with that muggle chemical of yours. Go talk to Aunt Rose – she'll be glad to help, though she is rubbish at potions."

"Why?" I asked him. Maybe he was mad. That would explain it. "Won't the owners be mad?"

"Nah," he said with a grin. "They'll understand."

"I still don't understand." And I wasn't leaving until I did.

"Look at it this way," he said. "It's an investment, okay? You take that Instant Darkness Powder and maybe you use some of it for yourself, but you also use some of it to improve it. Then you tell us what you did, and we get a better product. And on top of all that, we have a bright – what are you, a fifth year?"

"Sixth."

"We have a bright sixth year who already knows and likes us. Who knows? Maybe we'll hire you when you're out of school."

"I'm planning on doing some good in this world," I told him. Me, working in a joke shop? That was a joke in and of itself.

He shrugged. "Either way, it's a win-win deal. What do you say?"

"I'll do it," I decided. It should keep me occupied, at any rate. And it could come in useful if I needed to make a quick getaway.

"Great!" he said. He shrunk the crate and made it less heavy before tucking it my bag. "Nice doing business with you, Miss…"

"Lucas," I told him, with just the barest hint of a smile. "Abigail Lucas."

"Nice to meet you," he said, solemnly extending a hand. Well, as solemnly as anyone who was constantly laughing could.

"Abby?" Maya's voice floated back towards us. "Abby, where are you?"

"Here," I said, emerging from the back room. The sudden change in noise took me by surprise.

"Oh, thank Merlin!" she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the front of the store. "Let's get out of here; it's absolutely packed. I'm so, so sorry I'm late - Mum wanted me talk to me about some boy or another she wants to set me up with. She's mental, I swear. Of all the days she could have picked to pay attention to me - anyway, and then the tube was running late, and now I'm late and-"

"It's fine," I assured her. Maybe it had even been a good thing. I did get a lot of Instant Darkness Powder out of it.

She had to get her school supplies, so we went to all the usual places, comparing our summers as we always did.

"At least you have some peace and quiet," she said. "My mum is constantly dragging us everywhere. And Mari's no help at all."

"There's no peace at my house anymore," I complained. "You'll never guess who we have staying with us."

"Sarah's not home, is she?" Maya asked.

"I wish."

"Who, then?"

"Who do I hate, more than anyone else on the planet?" I asked her.

"Lynn Greengrass?"

"Worse."

"Not..." Her face fell in sympathy. "Merlin's beard, Abby, not Conrad!"

I nodded. "Yup."

"But why?" she demanded. "No one in your family likes him."

"I don't know," I said. "Just that he got in some sort of trouble and his parents needed to banish him."

"And so you're suffering? That doesn't seem fair."

"It isn't," I huffed.

"If it's any consolation, I have to put up with Mari," she offered.

"How did your mum take your grades?" I asked. She snorted.

"How do you think? It was all 'You're never going to get a boyfriend if you keep this up.' She bragged more about Mari's grades than mine."

"Mari's grades were horrible!"

"I know!" We considered in a similar vein until she finished her shopping. Then she turned to me with a set expression on her face.

"Nick's throwing a party the night before school starts," she said. "Before you say no, think about it. It'll get you away from Conrad!"

"I'm not going to any party," I told her. Honestly, she should know better than to ask by now.

"It's not going to be that big," she said. "Just the sixth years, and maybe a fifth year or two. Nothing wild. Just think of it - a whole night, away from Conrad."

"You won't guilt me into it," I warned her.

"Fine, fine," she said, but ten minutes later, at the end another rant about Conrad, she said, "You see? You have to come to the party."

I sighed. She did have a point. I would have done pretty much anything to get away from Conrad at that point. But I wasn't giving in without a fight. "I don't see why," I said. "It's not like they want me there anyway." If I wasn't Maya's friend I wouldn't even know the party existed. I didn't get along well with my year-mates.

"What are you talking about?" she said. "Everyone likes you."

I snorted. Yeah, right. Professor Longbottom will become a Death Eater before that happens. And more importantly: "But I don't want to go." What would I even do at a party?

"You never do anything fun," she huffed.

"I do pleanty of fun things," I protested. Like reading. And studying.

"Studying doesn't count," she said. I groaned. She knew me way too well.

"I wasn't going to say that!"

She ignored me, just asking again, "So will you come?"

"No."

But she didn't give up. The whole time we were in Flourish and Blotts she kept pestering me about it. She told me all about how much fun it would be, how many people I "liked" would be there, how few people I hated would be present, how I should drink away my Conrad troubles.

"You know I don't drink," I snapped at her. Why was she making such a big deal about some stupid party? It's not like Nick wanted me there. I doubted that he knew I existed.

She smirked. "There's a first time for everything."

"When you're of age." I wasn't about to get myself arrested for underage drinking, I mean, of all the stereotypical stupid things to do.

"To each his own." Maya shrugged. I wanted to say it would more likely be "To each _her_ own," seeing as we were both female, but before I could she was talking again. "But promise you'll come to the party on Saturday?"

I groaned. "Fine." If only to shut her up. "But only for an hour." An hour in that hellhole ought to be more than enough.

"Unless of course you want to stay longer," she said, her eyes twinkling.

I glared at her. "One hour." Another thought occurred to me. "What on earth am I supposed to wear to one of those things?"

Maya's face nearly burst with joy. "You can borrow one of my dresses," she said. "I know the perfect one. Come on, let's go make sure it fits."

I shut my eyes. The next few hours were going to be agony, I just knew it. Maya's mom loathed me.

That was nothing to how I felt four nights later, as I stood in my room staring at myself in the mirror. The dress Maya had forced on me was black, thank goodness, and nothing compared to the other things she had in her closet. I wasn't even sure if you could call half of those clothes. They certainly didn't cover much. Mari came in halfway through with some "helpful suggestions". Maya's stuff looked much better after that.

Even this one, the most modest of the lot, showed far more skin than I was used to. The neck was uncomfortably low - almost four fingers past my collar bone - and the skirt higher than I was used to. I had no idea what to do with my hair, so I just let it lay flat.

This was exactly why I had been so reluctant to go to the party. I had no freaking idea of what was expected of me. I had seen parties, sure; there was one in the common room every time Ravenclaw won a big quidditch match. But I normally spent those huddled in my dorm with a book. I couldn't do that here. Why had I let Maya talk me into this?

I was reminded when my obnoxious cousin poked his head into my room. "What the hell are you wearing that for?" he demanded. For once in my life, I was in agreement with him. But still, it was Conrad, and I had my principles to uphold.

"Why do you care?"

"Cause there's nothing else to care about in this damn place. Where are you going, all dressed up?"

"If you must know, there's a party tonight."

"You at a party?" He laughed at the very idea. I turned back to the mirror with a frown. Who said I couldn't go to a party if I wanted. "A party?" he said again. "Where?"

"It's for sixth years." No way did I want him showing up.

"Where is it?" he repeated, drawing his wand - a wand he could legally use, unlike the one that was on my dresser.

"Nick Davies' house," I said resentfully. "You don't know him."

"Doesn't matter," he said with a grin. And then, thank Merlin, he left. I sighed and figured it wasn't my business anyway. I wasn't his babysitter.

I showed up at the party at about half an hour in. I figured at that point, there would be enough people that I wouldn't have to talk to any of them. Maya had other plans.

"Abby!" she called the instant I walked through the door. She had a cup of something alcoholic in her hand. I grimaced at it, but she just grinned. There was some stupid pop song pounding in my ears and a lot of people there - practically our whole year - as well as some others that I didn't recognize. "Do you want something to drink?"

"No, thanks," I said. "I don't fancy being arrested."

"Maya!" Brianna Clearwater appeared at her side. "Hi!" The two of them chatted about quidditch for a moment and I wondered if it was possible to sneak out while Maya was distracted. Then Brianna was on her way again and Maya returned to me.

"What exactly am I supposed to be doing here?" I asked her.

"Having fun!" she cried.

"I don't know how to have fun, remember?" But she was already off, dragging me with her to go talk to someone else. I lost track of the number of people we talked to - or rather, the people she talked to while I stood by awkwardly.

Then the perfect Logan King - literally the king of Hogwarts - emerged from the melee of people. Maya instantly turned to him and just like that - she was in popular person mode. It wasn't so much that she forgot about me as that she simply never hung out with me when Logan and the others like him were around. I tended to disappear when they showed up.

So that's what I did. I made my way over to the punch bowl, which thankfully wasn't that crowded. I looked at the punch and frowned. What were the chances it was spiked? I wasn't sure I wanted to find out.

"Hey," someone said. It took me a moment to figure out he was talking to me. I turned and it was Nick Davies, our gracious host. Why was he talking to me? "Have you seen Maya?" Of course. Why else would anyone take note of me?

"She's talking to Logan," I said. He looked around like an idiot. I sighed. "By the staircase."

"Oh, well, we wouldn't want to interrupt them now, would we?" He grinned like an idiot. Why wasn't he going away?

I shrugged. "Whatever you say." I reached around him for the cup, still unsure if I was going to try the punch but feeling more and more open to the idea with every word he said.

He caught my arm. "Come on, Abby, have a little fun."

Who was this guy, why was he talking to me, why in Merlin's name was he holding onto my arm, and who gave him permission to call me Abby? I pulled away from him sharply and treated him to my best glare. "Maybe you haven't noticed in the, oh, I don't know, _six_ years we've known each other: I. Don't. Do. Fun. And don't call me Abby." That punch was looking more appetizing by the moment. See what this idiot had done to me? I was considering drinking punch that was probably spiked just to get away from him! I knew coming to that stupid party was a bad idea.

"You let Maya call you that," he said. I scowled.

"That's Maya." Maya was special. Maya knows me, I wanted to say. Maya is my _friend_. There are two people on the planet who can call me Abby, and you are not one of them, so just bugger off already!

Clearly, my glare was working, as he began stuttering, "Well, anyhow, nice chatting with you." Ha. "Looks like Maya and Logan are done with their little talk. See you at school." Yeah, right. Cause he was totally going to remember this conversation at school.

I glared at his back. Maya threw him a grin as he passed by her and Logan. Something in my stomach clenched and I turned on my heel and headed towards the door. I had had enough of socializing. It was good to see that I had missed out on absolutely nothing in my sixteen years of avoiding parties like this.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Nope, not JKR.

* * *

The house was silent when I woke the next morning. Even Dad was still fast asleep. My eyes were heavy, but I was glad I was awake. Merlin knows I needed the peace. There was still a strange ringing in my ears from last night. I had been out way too late.

When I entered the bathroom, I was doubly glad that I hadn't touched that punch. Conrad was lying prone on the floor, passed out in a pile of his own sick. I wrinkled my nose and did my best to vanish the vomit. I even summoned some of Sarah's perfumes from the cabinet and let them stink up the room. I levitated Conrad, who was still wet and smelly, into the bathtub and did my best to rinse him off. A quick drying spell later, I was able to levitate him back onto Sarah's bed. It was more than he deserved, but I needed the shower and no way was I going to let him ruin Sarah's bed.

Half an hour later, I was going through my trunk for the third time, making extra sure that I had everything. Last year I left some of my favorite books at home and had to wait until Christmas to get them. Aunt Tess is deathly afraid of owls.

The sun was doing its best to penetrate the London drizzle outside. I glowered at the window for a moment before pulling an umbrella out of my trunk. I hated rain. It was all wet.

Downstairs, I could hear Aunt Tess puttering about. For someone who did her best to keep away from me when I was home, she always got awfully emotional when school started.

I cast one more glance at my trunk and sighed. I would have to be done with packing, if Aunt Tess was already up. I made my way down to the kitchen, where she and Dad were waiting. I took the opportunity to really look at him for a moment. There were bags under his eyes and his cheeks were pale. I winced at the sight.

"Abby? Abby, can you do something for me? I need you to take care of Daddy, okay? All this is so hard for him. Just make sure he's doing okay."

I shook the memory away and went in. Aunt Tess pounced on me instantly, shoving a pile of plates and silverware into my arms. "Set the table, will you, darling?" she asked. I rolled my eyes but did as I was told. "The pancakes will be up in a moment."

"Morning," Dad said as I maneuvered around him to set the table."Excited for school?"

"I guess," I said. "I'll miss you, though." It was only half a lie. You can't miss what you never had.

"And goodness knows we'll miss you," Aunt Tess said firmly. She put a plate of pancakes on the table and sat down opposite me. "Now eat up."

We were silent as we ate, as always. It was nice to not have Conrad pouting next to me for once. However, I couldn't avoid him forever. "Go wake him up, will you, Abigail?" Aunt Tess asked me.

I groaned. "Can't you?"

"Abigail," Dad said warningly. I sighed and got up from the table.

"Fine."

"You won't have to deal with him after today," he said. "You can avoid him at school."

Well, I could try. "Yeah," I said with a smile. "Of course."

I knocked before entering Conrad's room, a little apprehensive after the condition he was in earlier. If he had thrown up on Sarah's stuff I was going to murder him. To my relief, when I opened the door he was lying just as I had left him.

"Whaddaya want?" he mumbled. Agrippa, he was hungover. I had to grin.

"It's ten o'clock," I told him, deliberately speaking a little louder than strictly necessary. "We're leaving in half an hour, with or without you. So I suggest you sober up and get going."

I left at that, certain he wouldn't wake up. Merlin knew I would be glad to just leave him there forever, but that would be a little hard on Dad. Sure enough, when Aunt Tess told me to go stip his bed, he was still comatose.

This time, I didn't bother beating around the bush. With him in the house and it being the first day of school, I seriously doubted that the Ministry would mind me using a little more magic. If they did, I could always blame it on Conrad. A quick wave of the wand and all his sheets were in my arms.

He sat up at that, though I didn't miss the pain that flickered across his face as he did so. I had to stifle another grin as he asked, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Aunt Tess told me to strip your bed," I said, beginning to fold the sheets. "So I am."

He groaned and laid back down. I drew my wand again and pointed it at him. This time the sheets that are under him come off and he goes flying. "What the fuck?" he yells as he hits the ground. I laugh as he attempts to stumble for his feet. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you should avoid alcohol at all costs.

"I warned you," I told him as I gathered up the sheets. "We're leaving in five minutes; you'd better get moving if you want a ride to the station."

I didn't see him again after that, thank Merlin. I told Dad and Aunt Tess he'd get himself to the station and left him to it. If he fell into a drunk stupor and missed the train, well, that was his problem.

Aunt Tess didn't come with us to the station - she never did. Magic in any form creeped her out. I could still remember a time when Dad thought her paranoia funny, but that was far in the past now. Now magic was just one of many things he didn't talk about. Mum leaving him for a wizard had kind of turned him against it.

The drive to King's Cross was silent, for the most part. It was strange. Dad's silence often infuriated me, but whenever I had a chance to break it I couldn't figure out how. "How are you?" I finally asked.

"Fine," he said. "You?"

"Fine," I said. "I had a good time with Sarah."

"How's she?"

"Fine."

He nodded and pulled up to the station. "Well, I guess this is it," he said, letting the car idle there for a moment. Horns blared behind us.

"Yeah," I said, but didn't move. Suddenly, after weeks of wanting to go back to school, there was nothing I wanted more than to go home with Dad. But I took a deep breath and turned to him, plastering a plastic smile on my lips. "I'll miss you."

"Write to us," he said, with a smile just as fake as mine.

I nodded. "I will." Of course, I said that every year and rarely actually wrote, so it didn't mean much. But honestly, it was so much easier to just explain things in person. Why waste time with owl post?

"Have a good year," he said as I got out of the car, pulling my trunk out after me.

"You too," I said, and then he was gone.

My spirits lifted as I made my way to Platform 9 3/4. After all, this wasn't just any school I was going back to. This was Hogwarts. I watched as a group of boys (obviously first years) sprinted towards the barrier and rolled my eyes. Some people were so ostentatious about the whole thing. It was a miracle muggles hadn't noticed us yet.

For my part, I simply leaned against the barrier and let myself melt through. Almost instantly, I crashed into someone on the other side.

I muttered a quick sorry and would have been on my way if a hand hadn't caught my arm. "Abigail Lucas! Fancy seeing you here!"

I pulled my arm away, looking suspiciously at the man who had grabbed it. No one sounded that happy to see me. To my surprise, it was the bloke from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. "James Potter," I said.

"That's me," he said with a grin. "Back to school, are you?"

"Yes." What else would I be doing here?"

"I'm just seeing a cousin off," he said, jerking a thumb back to where a huge crowd was gathered.

I was just about to make my excuses and get out of there when I heard a welcome voice. "Abby!" Sarah emerged from the crowd and threw her arms around me.

"I didn't know you were coming," I said as I returned the hug. "Don't you have work?"

"They can do without me for a morning," she said, then noticed James over my shoulder. "Oh, sorry. Was I interrupting?"

"Oh," I said, turning to face him. "No. Sorry. Um, this is my sister Sarah. James Potter."

"Your sister's consented to do a little work for us," he said, moving forward to shake her hand.

"And who exactly is us?" Sarah asked, shooting me an inquisitive look.

"Weasley Wizard Wheezes," James said.

"I was meeting Maya," I explained.

"What sort of work is it?"

"Altering Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder," I said. Sarah groaned.

"Not that again."

"She's done it before?" James said. That eyebrow of his went up again.

"She spent the entire summer last year working on it," Sarah told him.

I shrugged. "It's a big project."

"Well, thanks for taking it on," James said. He cast a glance back at his family and added, "I'd best get back to the chaos now, but it was nice seeing you two."

"Who exactly is he?" Sarah whispered to me once he was gone.

"James Potter," I said. "I told you that." She glared at me and I relented. "He ambushed me while I was waiting for Maya. What did you want me to do, turn it down?"

"What exactly is he having you do?"

"Make the Instant Darkness Powder better," I said, shrugging.

She rolled her eyes. "You do know that that stuff was supposed to be perfect."

"Nothing's perfect," I said.

"Except you," Sarah said, pulling me into one last hug. "You'd best get on that train; don't want it to leave without you."

"I'll see you over break?" I asked.

"Of course," she said with a smile. "And try to actually write this year, okay?"

I smiled. "I'll try."

Once I got on the train, I headed for the prefect's compartment. Nearly every compartment I passed was full. Maya waved at me from one, but I didn't go in. Too many people.

I was by no means the first one to the prefect's compartment. Jeremy Cook was already there, of course, like the perfect little Head Boy he was. Katrina August, his counterpart, was running late, as usual. A few nervous-looking fifth years were sitting in one corner, while half a dozen sixth and seventh years lounged around and chatted.

"All right, everyone," Cook said as the train began to move at precisely 11:00. "Ready to get started?" He went off on a long monologue about rules, barely even noticing as Katrina slipped in a couple minutes later. "Any questions?" A couple of the seventh years nudged each other awake.

"Well, thanks for listening," Katrina said. I couldn't help but feel a little bad for her. Cook was making his disdain very clear. "We'll see you later!"

There was a sudden burst of movement as all the prefects around me got up and headed for the door. I joined them and was making my way back down the corridor towards Maya's compartment when I heard someone come up behind me.

"Well, well, well, look who it is," a voice drawled. I turned to see Conrad and his gang.

"The mudblood," Lucas Malfoy said with a sneer.

"Halfblood, actually," I said, doing my best to keep calm as I glanced around. No one else was there. Well, I was officially screwed.

"Did you hear what she did to me this morning?" Conrad asked. "She threw me out of my bed."

Once upon a time, I had hated how that voice of his made me freeze up. Even now I felt that old familiar fear trickling through my veins, preventing me from fighting back. But I was grateful for it now. Responding to their taunts only encouraged them.

"Maybe you ought to try being thrown out of bed, see how you like that," Conrad said. One of his so-called friends laughed. A smirk slid onto Conrad's face. I wanted to draw my wand and smash it into the ground, but as always I stayed still. "Hold her down," he ordered. "As a tribute to her lovely father, who was oh-so kind to me while I was staying with them, we're going to do this the muggle way."

Paule Rosier, the only girl in the group, came forward with a laugh. One wave of her wand and I was entrapped in a bubble. A nifty little invention of the Ministry's, that spell. It sets up a bubble around the prospective criminal. Whoever is inside at the time of casting can't leave or fight anyone who enters. I couldn't help but be a little impressed; I didn't think Rosier knew magic that advanced. But when it came to bullying, of course this lot knew all there was to know.

It wasn't really necessary, that spell. I wasn't stupid. I knew perfectly well that if I ever tried to fight back during one of these sessions, they would smash me. If it were any other quartet, the odds wouldn't matter, but these four knew more about Dark Magic than most Death Eaters. Their grandparents had taught them well.

Conrad grinned in anticipation as he crossed the bubble. I closed my eyes and forced my face to remain impassive and my body to remain still.

Only when their laughter had retreated into the distance did I allow myself to open my eyes and take in the damage. Wincing, I drew my wand (they didn't even think well enough of me to take it) and assessed the damage. A few bruises, but no broken bones. Nothing I couldn't fix.

Five minutes later, I was wandering the corridors looking for an empty compartment. This time, when Maya waved at me from her compartment, I went in.

It was crowded, of course. Maya was sitting next to Logan King. They both had bags under their eyes. Clearly they hadn't quite recovered from their hangovers. "Told you that party was a bad idea," I said as I sat down on Maya's other side.

Logan attempted a grin. "I'm perfectly happy, thanks." Yeah, I can really see that. He didn't look exhausted at all.

"It was fun, Abby," Maya said. "You should've stayed. Logan may or may not have tried stripping."

"Which is exactly why I left." Why on earth would I want to stay and see that. I mean, EW.

"You definitely missed out," Logan said. On what? Getting scarred for life? I had to hold in a laugh when he turned to Maya and whispered, "I did what?" As if I needed any more proof he was hungover.

She just grinned. "It's fine. I stopped you before you could get to your pants." Because that makes everything better.

No one else seemed to think much of it. In fact, Aidan Gray actually said he wished he'd been able to go. I snorted.

"Did you know that Malfoy broke up with Avery Nott on the platform?" Terra Finch broke in. Like I cared.

Her best friend, Jessica Parker, added, "I hear she's pissed."

Well, duh, she's pissed. "She should have known better than to go out with one of the Quartet," I said. "None of their relationships ever work."

"Warrington went out with Lynn Greengrass for a while," Terra pointed out.

Really? Of all the relationships to cite... "Yeah, and look how that ended."

"She was devastated, Terra," Jessica said. "Jeez." Yeah. Really devastated. She was stupid, thinking he would ever be monogamous.

"Yeah, well," Terra said. Really caring, that girl. "Did you hear Rachel Prince and Farley Corner are going out now?"

"Yeah, that's just weird," Maya said. "He's a git, but she's a Slytherin, for crying out loud!" All these house biases really annoyed me. Didn't we fight an entire war over this stuff? Not all Slytherins are evil, only most of them.

Logan got up from his seat. "Well, girls, it's been fun to hear about the drama, but I think I'll go find Nick now. C'mon, Aidan." The two of them left and there was a moment of blessed silence before Terra started up again.

"I can't believe you kissed Fitz Darvid last night, Jess. Wow."

Jessica rolled her eyes in fake modesty. "It was truth or dare, Terra. Jeez."

Wait. Jessica, kissing Darvid? Really? "You really shouldn't be kissing him," I told her. "You're not his type."

She just smirked. "And how do you know what his type is?" Um, maybe because I heard him admitting to one of his friends that he was gay last year? Of course, he also swore that friend to secrecy.

I wasn't cruel enough to expose him to the mockery of this lot. So I just said, "It's fairly obvious." And really, it was. I mean, had they seen how he dressed?

Terra smiled condescendingly at me. "I'm sure you know everything, Abigail."

"No one can know everything," I shot back. But I certainly knew far more than her.

"Well, I do," Maya said, jumping in as always to bridge the gap between me and the rest of her friends.

I smiled. "I'm sure you think you do."

The compartment door slid open and Kat Smith slipped in. She was literate, unlike the rest of Maya's friends, which was always a nice change. She smiled when she saw me."Hi, Abby."

"Kat," I said, nodding at her.

Her smile grew. "Abigail," she repeated.

"Er, have you read any good books lately?" I asked her.

"Well, Jess," Terra said in that obnoxious voice of hers. "I had a fun time rereading the Standard Book of Spells Grade Six. It's just so entertaining. I know it's sort of weird, but I-"

Maya rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Terra." Thank you, Maya.

Kat ignored them, sinking into the seat Logan had vacated. "I finally looked up that muggle author you recommended. Her stuff is really good."

I frowned, trying to remember who I had recommended. "Which one did you read?"

"Pride and Prejudice, I think it was called," she said. Of course.

Maya groaned. "Oh, that one. Abby's been trying to get me to read it forever. But isn't it all ancient?"

"It's a classic," I told her. A real book, unlike most of the junk she read.

But she just groaned. "A synonym for ancient."

"Did you see Griffin Flint today?" Terra asked her, butting into our conversation once more. "So cute."

"But he's a Slytherin," Jessica complained. For once, I agreed with her. How long ago had it been that Griffin stood by, watching without a word as his best friend pummelled me to bits?

"At least he's not a Hufflepuff," Terra said with a sneer.

I frowned. "What's wrong with Hufflepuffs?" Hufflepuffs are nice.

She raised an eyebrow and had just opened her mouth to give some snarky reply when Kat stepped in. "Finn Page is pretty cute."

"He's really nice," Maya said, looking glad to have an uncontroversial topic. "He's, like, Mari's best friend." Then I'm sure he must be wonderful. Because Mari has such superb taste.

"Or Will Abercrombie," Kat said.

"Thing for Gryffindors, Kat?" Maya teased her. Kat flushed and looked relieved when the compartment doors opened once more.

Logan bounded in, dragging Nick behind him. "Look who we found!"

"Hey, everyone," Nick said with that ease that only came from entering a room full of people who adored you. "Why was I summoned?"

"Abigail might try to murder us," Terra said. I considered the idea for a moment. As tempting as it was, if I was going to commit murder Terra wouldn't be my first choice.

The boys entered the compartment and were standing around awkwardly. There were only two open seats, and of course they were all too much the gentleman to sit down. It looked like a bad parody of musical chairs. For Ravenclaws, they looked a lot like Gryffindors.

But maybe there was some Gryffindor in me, too, or at least some Hufflepuff, because I stood up and said quietly to Maya, "I'd better go."

Despite my hope to slip out unnoticed, Logan overheard and of course had to make a big deal about it. "Going so soon?" he exclaimed. "You'll miss another party!" If there was another party that was going to happen, I wanted to be far, far away.

"I have to..." I cast around for a suitable excuse. "Meet a friend." Right. A friend.

As I hurried away, I heard Terra whisper something to Jessica. Everyone laughed. I rolled my eyes and kept moving.

At the very end of the train I finally found a quiet compartment. I thought it was unoccupied until I saw the boy huddled in the corner. I smiled as I entered. This was where I belonged.

I didn't say anything as I sat down and pulled out a packet of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. It wasn't until I tossed it at him that he even registered my presence.

He took the packet, not even looking at me as he did so. That's how Eric was. No extraneous energy, not a single moment of wasted time, not a thought for anyone who he deemed unworthy. The rest of Hogwarts avoided him, calling him names like "crazy", "genius", and "dangerous." He took it all as his due.

"Why do you have this?" he finally asked me. "I thought you realized its lack of value."

"I've been hired to make it better," I told him.

At that he finally looked at me. "By whom?"

"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes," I said. He frowned.

"Why?"

"They wanted to make it better, I figured it would be fun."

"Are they paying you?"

I rolled my eyes. Among other things, Eric was obsessed with getting rich. "I volunteered."

"You shouldn't let people take advantage of you," he said, throwing the packet back at me and returning to his book.

I took the packet and looked at it. I had gone through a phase in fourth year when I thought that Instant Darkness Powder was the answer to all my prayers. It was my kind of thing; immensely complex, possibly dangerous, and brilliant for hiding behind. I later realized exactly how flashy and obvious it was, but I still remembered most of what I had learned that year I was obsessed with it.

I stored the packet in my trunk and pulled out a book. The Diaries of A House-Elf, it was called. It was a fictional account of a house-elf who was said to have murdered her mistress. Only years later did Albus Dumbledore prove that that was one of Voldemort's earliest murders.

"More fiction?" Eric said scathingly. "And historical fiction at that."

"Not everything has to be about the future," I told him. "Besides, history repeats itself."

"So read something real," he said, jumping up and pointing at the book in my hands. "That, that is junk. Utter rubbish. Not a word of it is true! What good does it do? What purpose does it serve?"

I rolled my eyes and opened the book. There was no reasoning with Eric. I was a good twenty pages into the book when he finally fell quiet.

The rest of the train ride passed peacefully, with Eric occasionally grumbling about things in his book and me totally engrossed in mine. The carriage ride was similarly pleasant, but of course the peace couldn't last. The moment I entered the Great Hall my ears were assaulted by the chatter of a thousand idiots.

I waded through the crowd to the Ravenclaw table, Eric on my heels. Maya was at her usual spot, surrounded by her friends. I considered joining her, but the closest available seat was too far away. I wouldn't be able to hear a word. I didn't understand how people managed. Like Joey Capillino, who was hanging onto Maya's every word despite being at the Hufflepuff table. I snickered to myself as I took a seat farther down the table. Poor bloke didn't stand a chance. It was obvious Maya fancied Jeremy Cook. I didn't see where she was coming from, personally, but to each their own, I supposed.

The sorting passed as slowly as it ever did. I amused myself by trying to guess which house each student would end up in. The scared looking kid who had bruises still fading on his arms? Not brave enough to be a Gryffindor or defiant enough to be a Slytherin, but not a total pushover, either. He would be a Ravenclaw. Same with the girl standing next to him. Their hands were almost touching, they were so terrified. I grinned. Little kids could be adorable sometimes.

The sorting over, food appeared on all our plates. I made a face at the students who grabbed at it. Honestly, people were such pigs. It was a minute before things had calmed down enough for me to get some.

I let the fifth year prefects lead the new Ravenclaws to the tower. Might as well let them feel important for a moment. I went ahead of them, eager to make it to my bed. I was the first one to the dormitory, thank Merlin. I got ready for bed quickly and fell asleep almost instantly. It had been a long day of doing nothing, and I had classes tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Not JKR.

* * *

The next morning, I got down to breakfast relatively early. My copy of the Prophet was waiting for me. I glanced at it as I poured my pumpkin juice. There had been a series of murders by werewolfs recently, but it didn't seem that the Ministry had any new leads. Pity. It was a devastating story.

A loud burst of laughter from the Slytherin table cut through my concentration, instantly souring my mood. I glanced up to see Conrad sitting alone at one end of the table. I looked back down at my arms. The spells I had put in place to hide my bruises were starting to fade. I would have to renew them before class.

I would get back at Conrad at some point. I always did. I would come up with something great, something that would be utterly embarrassing. A love potion, maybe. I hadn't used that since fifth year. I think he still hasn't realized that I was behind his brief fling with Paule. She might have some inkling, but I doubt that pea brain of hers is capable of doing anything about it.

"Schedules!" Professor Weasley appeared at the head of our table, a big pile of papers in her hands. She started with the first years, patiently explaining that yes, they did have to find all these classes and no, she didn't have a map. "The teachers will understand," she told them. I scoffed. Teachers? Understanding things? If they did, it would be a first.

Finally she got to me. "Miss Lucas," she said, handing me a piece of parchment. "A very impressive schedule you've got there."

"I can handle it," I told her.

"If anyone can, I'm sure it will be you," she said with a faint smile. "My nephew told me he spoke to you about doing some work for the family business."

"The Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder?" I said. "Yeah, I'm working on it."

"I'm rubbish with chemicals, but if there's anything I can do, let me know, will you?" she asked. "And don't stress about it. You're going to be very busy this year."

"I'll be fine," I told her. Belatedly remembering my manners, I added, "But thanks."

She smiled at me and moved down the table. "Hey," Maya said, slipping into the seat next to me. "You got your schedule?"

"Yeah," I said, handing it to her before she asked. She always had to know everything.

"You're taking History of Magic?" she said, making a face. "Ew. Why?"

"It's interesting," I said. It was such a pity Professor Binns taught it. It meant that there was this whole generation - generations, now - that thought history was nothing more than a list of dates and names. No one in the wizarding world understood that history was about stories and people and adventures. And magical history? It was fascinating! Oh, people loved learning about the Wizarding Wars, but that was as far back as they went. And those were only a 100 years ago! They had no sense of perspective.

Maya just rolled her eyes. "Whatever floats your boat, I guess. I think Nick's still taking that, too."

"Really?" Nick Davies? What was he doing, taking History of Magic? He probably just wanted a class he could sleep through.

"Yeah," Maya said. "I don't know why. Muggle Studies or something like that would be just as easy."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to go get my things. I'll meet you in class."

Eric caught up to me as I left the Great Hall. "What classes are you taking?" he asked.

"Hello to you too," I muttered as I handed over my schedule. Why was I friends with so many pushy people?

"Why aren't you taking anything useful?" he asked as he glanced over it.

"What do you call Transfiguration and Charms and Potions?" I demanded.

He shrugged them off. "Everyone takes those."

"Arithmancy?" I tried.

"Your wand can do the calculations just as well."

"Well, what are you taking?" I asked.

"Alchemy-"

"I'm taking that!"

"Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination."

"Because those are so useful." I regretted the words as soon as they had left my mouth. Eric and sarcasm rarely mixed well. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice.

"They are. Far more useful than" - he glanced at my schedule with a distasteful sneer - "History of Magic."

Before I could defend my choice, the bell rang and we had to get going.

The rest of the day passed without much excitement. It was all the usual start of school things. The teachers gave their typical warnings about how this year would be so much harder than the last and how, now that we were NEWT level students, the expectations were going to be higher. Blah, blah, blah. Honestly, do they think we don't know that? Do they think we care?

It was a relief to get to History of Magic a couple of days later. At least that class couldn't change too much. Say what you like about Professor Binns but he was consistent. I smiled as I slipped into my seat at the front of the room. Most people found Binns' class unbearably boring, but I thought his lectures were soothing. Despite his dry way of teaching, what he was saying was actually fascinating.

I was one of half a dozen students in the classroom. All of the others were clustered in the back of the room. I recognized Chloe Hill and Isabel Hooper sitting off to the side. I stayed as far away from them as I could. They were nice enough girls, but they cared far more about nail polish than history. Nick Davies wasn't there, which was odd. Maya had seemed sure he was taking this.

"Good morning," Professor Binns said as he floated to the front of the room. That was another thing I loved about this class. How amazing was it that we got to have a ghost as a teacher? "As you are no doubt aware, this class will be covering the History of Magic, starting with the ancient Indus River civilization. The Indus River is one of the Middle East's most important rivers. It runs through modern-day Pakistan and into the northwest state of India, which is Punjab. It is the cradle of wizarding civilization..."

As he droned on and on in his monotone, my mind slipped joyfully into its standard school mode. Of course, it was too good to last. We were barely five minutes in when someone started banging on the door. I glanced behind me to see Nick standing in the doorway, glowering. His entrance was so loud even Binns noticed. "Dunlop! What are you doing, sneaking into the classroom like I can't hear you?" he demanded.

Nick mumbled something incoherent and I raised an eyebrow. Someone was in a wonderful mood.

He went to sit down in the back, but for once Binns took control of the class. "Sit up here where I can see you," Binns instructed, pointing a translucent arm to the seat next to me. Of course. Of all the seats in the room, he had to pick the one next to me. Brilliant.

Nick just muttered, "Fine," as he slipped into the seat next to me.

Binns didn't take kindly to the insubordination. "Don't talk to me that way, boy! I have been a teacher here for five centuries and I've never heard such disrespect!" I had to hide my smile.

It could have been worse. At least Nick wouldn't try to talk to me. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he slouched in his seat. He had pulled his textbook out, but clearly had no clue what to do with it. I doubted he had ever opened a book before. "Page twelve," I whispered. He just nodded and turned to the page. Honestly, some people just had no manners.

The rest of the class passed in a bit of a blur. I asked a couple of questions, scaring the kids in the back. Talking in that class was common, but actually engaging with the teacher? They simply couldn't understand it.

Take Nick, for example. He was just sitting there, not even taking notes. I tried to let it pass, I really did. What did I care if he wanted to fail? But it was so distracting, him just sitting there acting as if he didn't care, that I couldn't stand it. Eventually I leaned over and asked him if he was planning to take any notes at all.

He looked surprised. "No," he said, as if he had never heard of taking notes before. "Why would I do that?"

I gaped at him. "Oh, I don't know, so you can pass the class? This is NEWT level, you can't just mess around." Did he want to fail?

"I'm not," he insisted. "I'm listening." Yeah, right. It was a proven fact that you couldn't stay awake in Binns' class without taking notes.

"Right, then," I said, turning towards him. If Binns was saying anything important he would no doubt catch it, seeing as he was listening so hard. "Where's the Indus River Valley?" That should have him stumped.

He looked a little rattled, and I suppressed a smile. "Er...he didn't say," Nick said. I opened my mouth to tell him that that was what happened when you were late to class, but then he added, "But it's in the northwest Indian area."

My mouth snapped shut. "Oh," I said. Realizing that I was probably looking like an idiot, I informed him, "Well, you should still take notes." I returned to my own notes, still rather surprised.

"Right," he whispered back. "I'll keep that in mind." Jerk. He probably just guessed and got lucky.

Only a moment or two later, Isabel Hooper's voice drifted over to us. "Oh my god, wait. So you're saying that they actually just went and hooked up while you were in, like, the same house?"

I sniggered. Three guesses who that was directed at. Sure enough, Nick squirmed in the seat next to me.

"It was at a party at his house." That was Chloe Hill. I hadn't known she and Nick were dating. But from the sounds of things, it hadn't lasted long. "Terra told me he didn't even want me to come!"

Nick glanced at me. Agrippa, he was obvious. Did he really think I wouldn't be listening? Please.

The rest of the class passed quickly, with Binns giving us lots of details about the ancient Indus River civilization. By the end, I had six rolls of parchment worth of notes. My hand was aching, but it was worth it.

"Now," Binns said. "You are all required to write three rolls of parchment about the influences of magic in the Indus River Valley. Due by next Wednesday." The rest of the class groaned. "But since it's just the beginning of the year, I have decided to bestow a gift on you." I frowned. A gift? From Binns? Since when? "You may work with the person sitting next to you."

Excuse me? Work? With the person sitting next to me? That was Nick. Nick Davies. Who was an idiot. I was not working with him!

"Um, Professor?" I asked, giving him my best teacher's pet face. Merlin knows I hated using it, but this was worth it. "Do we have to work with someone, or can we do it on our own?"

Beside me, Nick muttered, "Brilliant," under his breath. That's gratitude for you. I was doing him a favor, since he so clearly despised me.

"Yes, yes, that's just what I said, Miss Lucas," Binns said as he floated away. Brilliant. I turned to face Nick, who didn't look so good.

"Well, then," he said. "When should we work on this?"

I pulled out my homework planner. "Friday, maybe?" It was a little later than I would have liked, but that would give me some time to do some research before we started. "We have that Charms essay due tomorrow, and-"

"You never get out, do you?" he interrupted me. Rude.

"I have better things to do," I informed him

"Like... homework?"

I was not having this conversation with him. It was bad enough that Maya was constantly on my case without him bugging me too. "If Friday doesn't work for you, then I guess we could do it Monday night."

"No, no, it's okay," he hurried to say. "Quidditch is on Monday."

"Already?" Weren't they supposed to wait just a little bit before inflicting their sports on the rest of us?

"Well, you do all your homework early. Is a bloke not able to schedule tryouts early then?"

I shot him a glare and stood up as the bell rang. "I'll see you on Friday then. In the common room after dinner?"

"Yeah, sure," he said as he loped out of the classroom. I scowled after him. He had better be there.

As it turned out, I was the one who ended up being late. Over lunch on Friday, I went to see Professor Weasley. She welcomed me into her office with a smile. "What can I do for you?" she asked.

"I've been thinking about how I want to tackle the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder," I told her. "And I don't think I can do it in my dorm."

She chuckled. "I doubt your roommates would be very happy with that. Do you want me to get you set up in a dungeon?"

"If you can," I said. She was only the charms teacher, after all, and I knew she and Professor Vanity, who taught potions, didn't get along very well.

"You can use mine," she said, opening her desk and pulling out a key. "I never use it. It's dungeon six. Can you find it?"

"Of course," I said. "Thank you."

She just smiled. "Any time."

After my last class, I went down to the dungeon to get things set up. It was relatively well equipped, thought there weren't many ingredients. I was going to start with some basic modifications, things I had done before. I still had all my notes from my previous experiments, thank Merlin. Without them, I wouldn't even know the basic composition of the stuff.

I started by adding about three liters of a rather ingenious mix (if I do say so myself) of my own making for every ten liters of powder. As I hoped, it exploded. It was a little more violent than I had expected, but that was okay. I had set up some basic protective spells. The explosion was meant to test them. They passed with glowing colors; my robes only got slightly singed.

For the next few hours, I slaved away, mixing this and that and getting back into the hang of things. Though I didn't get that much actual work done, time flew down there. I barely registered the bells ringing in the distance until I checked my watch and saw it was seven o'clock. Ferociously berating myself, I cleaned up faster than I ever had before and sprinted back to the Ravenclaw Tower.

I was a mess, so I headed straight to my dorm. Luckily, Nick didn't seem to be in the common room as I ran through it. My luck didn't hold, though - Terra and Jessica were both in the dorm when I got there. They stopped talking the moment I walked in. Really, there was no way they could have been less subtle. If they were going to talk about me, the dorm was the worst place to do it. Maya or I were sure to walk in sometime.

Terra wrinkled her nose as she took in my disheveled state. "Where have you been?" she asked.

"Dungeons," I said shortly, going over to my bed. Jessica whipped her feet off the floor and out of my way as I passed.

"Obviously," she said. "You smell horrible."

"What were you doing down there?" Terra wanted to know.

"None of your buisness," I said, grabbing my clothes and heading for the shower.

Only a few minutes later, I was back downstairs in the common room, scanning it desperately for Nick. I hated being late. There was never an excuse for tardiness.I finally found him sitting by the fireplace with Maya. I made my way over to them and sat in the seat next to Maya. "Sorry I'm late."

Nick looked up. "Hey."

"What's up?" Maya asked, looking between us in confusion. I didn't blame her. Nick and I never talked.

"History of Magic homework," Nick said, a little too quickly. Merlin's beard. If he was that embarrassed about being seen with me he should have said to meet in the library. None of these idiots would be there.

"Seriously?" Maya said, scrunching up her face. "I don't get why either of you continued it."

"I've told you a thousand times," I said. Really, it was getting a little old. "It's interesting."

"Sure," she said, rolling her eyes. "All those bloody goblin wars. My favorite!"

"Actually, we're working on the Indus River Valley," I told her. Why does everyone always assume wizarding history is just goblin war after goblin war?

"Blah, blah, blah," Maya said. "It all sounds the same from Professor Binns." She got up. "I'll just leave you two nerds to it, then."

"Excuse me?" Nick said. Trust him to get offended because he was called a nerd. "I am not a nerd. She's the weird one." Idiot. Weird has nothing to do with nerdism. All nerd means is that you're rather socially inept and like academia. In other words, that you don't feel the need to conform to every social standard and that you have a brain. It's hardly an insult.

"Sure you're not," Maya said, rolling her eyes.

"What's wrong with being a nerd?" I demanded.

"I'm done here," Maya said, and strutted off.

"Everything is wrong with nerds," Nick informed me condescendingly. "They don't have a life."

I scoffed. "Who needs a life?" I had a life. A perfectly good one, thank you very much. Just because I chose to fill it with things other than wild partying, sex, and drugs doesn't mean it's nonexistent.

"Well, it's true," Nick said, completely ignoring my question. "You want to work on a Friday."

"You agreed," I pointed out.

He rolled his eyes. "Only because I had a detention planned."

I started. "You have a detention? Why aren't you there?" I hadn't pinned Nick as the sort of person to skip out on a detention. He may have been an idiot, and he definitely broke quite a few rules, but he wasn't that stupid. Skipping detention only led to more detention. It was even obvious enough that he should be able to figure it out.

"I got out of it when Professor Weasley heard I had to work with you," he said. How did that even work? She had better make him serve it later. What had he done to earn a detention this early in the year anyway? I hadn't seen anything big, so it was probably just something like snogging some girl in the corridors. Which was disgusting, but whatever.

Shaking myself out of my reverie, I said, "Whatever. Let's get to work then, shall we? What do you want to do?" I pulled my textbook out of my bag and began to look through it.

"Sure," Nick said absently. I glanced over at him to see him staring at a couple snogging in the corner. Gross.

"Oi, Davies!" Did I need to slap him to get his attention?

He jumped. "Sorry, what?"

"What do you want to write the essay on?"

"Wasn't it something or another about like how they used to use magic or something?" he said, turning his charm on as high as it went.

"Your idiocy never ceases to amaze me," I told him, mentally hoping that Binns was roasting in hell for making me work with Nick.

"Glad I'm entertaining," he said, totally undisturbed. "Let's try to get this done quickly, shall we? I've got to go soon."

He probably had a date with Jessica. "Fine," I said, a little shortly. If he had something else planned - because apparently Friday was the day that everyone always had plans unless they were a total loser nerd - then he should have picked another day to work.

The weekend passed quickly, as they always did. I was productive, for the most part, finishing my homework on Saturday and then spending a chunk of time on Sunday in the dungeons. Sunday night I fell into bed early, ready for the week to begin.

That night, I dreamed I was a flower. It sounds silly, I know, but it made sense in the dream. There was a woman in the dream who planted me. She was nice, but then one day she was just gone. In her place was a horde of children, who stomped on me and tore up my roots. Finally a huge gust of wind picked me up and carried me away. I think it was a nice wind - if wind can be nice, which only happens in dreams and fairytales - but it was cold up there. I woke up before I landed. It was a weird dream.

No one else was awake, so I pulled out a book and started reading. I probably should have gone back to sleep - I hadn't gotten more than eight hours of sleep and I liked to aim for at least nine - but I didn't want to become a flower again.

As I read, my thoughts drifted back to the train ride and the beating Conrad had given me. The bruises had faded, but the humiliation had stuck with me. I had seen Conrad swearing at some poor first year the day before. It was time someone taught him a lesson. And who better to do that than me?

I was still trying to think of ways to make him pay when I heard Maya stirring. "Morning, Abby," she said as she got out of bed. She had bags under her eyes, probably from being out late the night before. Seriously, people needed to learn that Sundays were not a good night for staying up.

"Hi," I said, looking up from my book..

"So what are you doing tonight?" she asked. I put the book down.

"Alchemy homework," I said. I would have finished it over the weekend but Professor Clearwater had been out of town and I had a question.

"So basically nothing."

"Homework is something," I said, mainly just to be contrary.

"It's really not," Maya said. "Anyway, will you please come to the quidditch tryouts tonight?"

I made a face. Tryouts had to be the worst part of an already boring event. Basically you just watched people fly around in circles. The first game of the year wouldn't be for another month - what was the big rush? "They're tonight?" I said, hoping I sounded adequately interested. After all, if Maya could fake interest in my research, then I could fake interest in her quidditch, right? "You guys don't waste any time, do you?"

"Nope," Maya said. "Need to start training as soon as possible. Plus Nick is a little mad." Of course he was.

"You're all crazy," I told Maya. "Why would you willingly put yourself in that much danger?"

"It's so much fun," Maya said, a smile spreading across her face.

"Fun?" I repeated, incredulous. "You call being hundreds of feet up in the air and being chased around by a bunch of psycho jerks and big balls of rocks fun?" Everyone knew quidditch was the most dangerous sport there was. I mean, there was an entire position whose job was basically beat-the-other-team-to-a-pulp. No wonder Conrad loved it.

"Yes, I do," Maya said.

"You're mad."

"Just come, please," she wheedled.

"Are you going to leave me alone if I say yes?" I asked. I'd be there, of course, but it didn't hurt to make her sweat a little. Tryouts were boring, but I'd bring a book and help her suffer through it.

"Do I ever?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

I sighed dramatically. "Fine."

She grinned. "Great. C'mon, let's go get breakfast."

As she chattered away, it came to me - the perfect way to get back at Conrad. If Maya was having tryouts, he must be having his sometime soon. His quidditch gear wouldn't be in the locker rooms yet but he would have it out and ready. A couple drops of Itching Potion, and his tryouts wouldn't go so well. That would be quite embarrassing for his first year as captain, wouldn't it?

After dinner, I slipped down to the dungeons and whipped up a small batch of itching potion. Luckily, while it was rather complex, it didn't take long to prepare. In fact, the challenge was doing everything fast enough. It was ready within half an hour.

The next step, of course, was getting into the Slytherin dorms. That was the hard part. I charmed the blue on my robes green and transfigured the crest, but there was still the problem of the password. Eventually, I decided to just wing it. Someone would surely come by soon and say the password. I would just slip in after them. Once I was in, I'd head straight for the boy's dorms. Anyone who saw me would just assume I was one of Conrad's whores.

A quick Dislusionment Charm later, I was crouching outside the entrance to the Slytherin common room. I'd always thought it was a little preposterous that no one knew where any of the other common rooms were. It wasn't a very good way to promote unity. Anyway, I'd made it my mission in second year to find all the other common rooms. Slytherin was probably my least favorite. Who wanted to live in a dungeon?

Soon enough, a young girl - she looked like a second year - came by and opened the door. I undid the charm (it wasn't good enough to hide me while I was moving - I made a mental note to work on that later) and went in after her.

That's where my luck took a turn for the worse. Who should have been coming out of the common room but Professor Vanity, head of Slytherin and hater of every house except her own. And of course, she knew me well.

"Miss Lucas," she said loudly. "What a pleasant surprise. To what do we owe the honor?"

I just stood there, petrified. I hadn't even considered what would happen if I got caught. True, this was my first time sneaking into another common room, but I had assumed it would just be easy. My mind started racing, trying to determine the worst that could happen. Expulsion was unlikely, and since it was a first offense I didn't think they could suspend me. But getting points docked was almost a certainty. I groaned. The last thing I needed was to be the kid who lost Ravenclaw the house cup.

"Come with me," Vanity said, taking me by the arm and dragging me out of the common room. "What were you doing in there, Miss Lucas? You are aware that being in another house's common room is forbidden."

"Yes." Yes, I had known it was forbidden. Had I cared? No. Merlin's beard, but I was stupid.

"Then why did you go in?" I didn't answer. I wasn't that dumb. What was I supposed to say, that I was there to vandalize her precious Slytherins' prized possessions? Vanity sighed. "Very well, then. Ten points from Ravenclaw and a week of detentions, to be served each night after dinner with me."

Clenching my teeth, I barely managed to nod. I had to force myself not to run as I made my way back to Ravenclaw Tower. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Stupid to think I could actually beat Conrad. Stupid to assume I could just walk into his dorm. Stupid to get a detention. Me! A detention!

By the time I got to my dorm, I was in a boiling rage. Thanking Merlin the dorm was empty, I figured the powers-that-be owed me something. Except they really didn't, because it was all my fault. I threw myself down on the bed and buried my face in my pillow. Ten points lost and a week of detention. Before noon tomorrow the whole school would know about it. My eyes prickled and my throat clenched, but I forced the tears back.

I don't know how long I lay there, alternatively hating myself and hating the world, but eventually I heard somone coming up the stairs. I hastily brushed the tears off my face and pulled out a book to hide behind. If I was lucky, it would have just been Kat, popping in to grab something before going back downstairs. Even Jessica or Terra would have been fine. But no, Maya had to be the one who walked in.

"Hey, why didn't you come?" she asked me. "You promised you'd be there."

"Come where?" Had I told her I'd be somewhere?

"Quidditch tryouts," she said, enunciating every sound. "Today."

"Oh." Shoot. Shootshootshootshootshoot. Of course. This was just what I needed. What could I tell her that would appease her? Not the truth; she would think it was just some childish prank and that I just got what I deserved. Which was true, of course - the latter part, not the former - but I didn't need to hear it from her. "I had stuff."

"Like what?" she asked with a mocking laugh. "Homework?" What was it with everyone thinking I only ever did homework?

"None of your business," I shot back. Why did she always assume my world revolved around her? Maybe I had better things to do than watch her watch some idiots make fools of themselves on the quidditch pitch. "I don't have to tell you everything I do."

"Well, you didn't come and you said you would, so yeah, it's sort of my business."

"Well, you can bet it was a whole lot more important than your quidditch tryouts!" If I had succeeded, it would have taken Conrad down a peg and maybe he would have left me alone for a while. But of course, Maya didn't know about that. She had no idea that I was getting regularly beat up, because she lived in a nice little fantasy world where everything was perfect. Her biggest problem was that her mum was always bugging her. At least she had a mum!

"More important?" Maya repeated. Was that so inconceivable?

"You heard what I said."

"Whatever it was, I'm sure it was way more important than your only friend!"

"I don't have friends!" Weren't friends supposed to talk, to be there for each other, to, I don't know, have sleepovers and gossip? Maya and I had nothing in common. When was the last time she had asked how I was? She was friends with Terra and Logan and Nick, not with me.

"Fine," she said.

"Fine," I repeated, pulling the curtains to my bed shut and wondering why I felt even worse than I had an hour earlier.


End file.
